The present invention relates to a microwave oven, more particularly, to the improved mechanical structure of the latch-hook that securely holds the latch-head of the door of the microwave oven.
Conventionally, the front door of the microwave oven is closed by a latching mechanism. The latch-head projecting from the door is secured to the latch-hook provided inside the peripheral edge of the front entrance of the microwave oven. The conventional microwave oven is provided with the latch-hook (a) shown in the sectional view of FIG. 1 and in the exploded view of FIG. 2. The latch-hook (a) is set to the internal surface of the bent part (c) of the front panel that makes up part of the microwave oven unit (b). Reference code (d) indicates the door, (e) the front panel, and (f) the latch-head. The latch-head is installed manually by inserting the hand into the housing from the rear. However, since the installation work is done at a position remote from the external surface, manual assembly is always rather difficult. In addition, since the bent panel (c) that houses the latch mechanism is not thick enough to withstand external force, it may be accidentally deformed while manually assembling the latch mechanical unit. A latching mechanism for the door of a microwave oven was disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,409 "DOOR LATCHING ASSEMBLY" (Inventor: SAKODA YASUHIRO) owned by the assignee of the present application.